


Camp Altea

by something_else



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst with a Happy Ending, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Panic Attacks, allura and coran are counsellors, mild swearing, probably, shiro and matt will come in later, they're KIDS, whoops?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 20:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12802092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/something_else/pseuds/something_else
Summary: Lance loves summer camp. So do his friends, Pidge and Hunk. It's three months away from their family to expend all of the energy stored up dur by the school year and to have fun!However, Keith, a newbie to Camp Altea, isn't having it. So it's up to Lance to make sure he's a happy camper.AKA the summer camp AU no one asked for but I'm doing anyway.





	Camp Altea

Drop off day.

Parents double check that their little ones have everything they need for the next three months in the parking lot before waiting in the check-in line. Even there they triple and quadruple check that everything’s been packed, calls will be made, and reminders are remembered. The kids are checked in, given a hug and kiss, and sent into Camp Altea.

Lance held his mama’s hand as they waited in line. He bounced on his feet, hardly containing his excitement.

“Lance, stop bouncing,” his mother said. “You’re going to tire yourself out before you see Hunk and Katie.”

“Katie’s _Pidge_ , mom,” Lance said. “And tire out? In my lifetime?”

“It’s more likely than you think.”

He snorted. His mother’s subtle memes always gets him.

Camp Altea was probably the highlight of Lance’s year. He was a four-time returner and one of the handful of kids who stayed the entire summer. Each week was a different activity; some planned, some suggested by the campers. Lance loved the chaos of suggested activities.

His mother worked the day shift even during the summer, thus being unable to care for her youngest son. Her other kids were with the father on the other side of the state, and babysitting was too expensive for her. Camp Altea was a better substitute.

The young boy peered to the front of the line. He saw a woman hugging her son with tears in her eyes before ruffling his hair and walking away. He waved goodbye, then adjusted the bandana around his forehead.

Lance cupped his hands around his mouth. “HUNK!!”

The bandana boy jumped and looked for the person who called out to him. He locked eyes with Lance and waved. “HI LANCE!!”

“HOW’VE YOU BEEN, MAN?”

“I’M DOIN’ SWELL! HOW ‘BOUT YOU, MAN?”

“ME TOO! HAVE YOU SEEN PIDGE YET?”

“SHE CHECKED IN BEFORE ME. SHE’S PROBABLY UNPACKING RIGHT NOW.”

“OKAY. SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!”

“SEE YA, MAN!”

Hunk picked up his duffle bags and darted inside the gate. Lance out his hands down and finally acknowledged the amount of people staring at him. Heat crept into his ears. His mother sighed. “Must you always cause such a scene?”

Lance only shrugged. “Sorry, Mama. I haven't seen Hunk or Pidge since last year.”

The line moved. Lance dragged his bags with him.

From the parking lot, he suddenly heard wailing. Like a kid begging his parents not to leave him. Lance sighed. _Newbie_.

When he saw the wailing kid, he regretted thinking that. The father had the boy over his shoulder like a sack of flour as he kicked and screamed. The mother walked silently beside them, carrying two small duffle bags and a backpack. They strolled past the line and up to the table. The counselor quickly checked in the boy and seemed to be having a disagreement with the mother.

A few parents groaned, including Lance’s mom. “What makes them so special that they can just cut the whole line…?”

Lance watched as the father set down the kid. He clung to his dad’s leg, but was pried off and held back by the counselor. As his parents turned to leave, the kid cried “ _PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!!_ ”

Lance’s heart broke a little as the parents walked away, ignoring their kid’s pleas. He felt angry. How could someone’s parents completely disregard their own crying child? What a bunch of—

“Lance, move up,” his mother suddenly said. He snapped back to reality and stepped forwards, dragging the bags in the ground again.

 

~

  
_What went wrong?_

It was a question he’d been asking for almost a year now.

He’d ask his mother, who’d just yell at him in response. He’d ask his father, who’d close off and tell him to keep quiet. He’d ask himself, which would only drive himself more into a mental corner.

And he’s been in that corner for almost a year now.

He learned to stay quiet about it and dropped the questions. Whenever his mom and dad fought, he no longer asked why; instead he’d hide in his room and wait it out. He replaced asking why either parent was home so late and where’d they been with ‘welcome back’. He stopped asking where they were going and left it to silence. It all slowly ate away at him, but he swore to never make a scene about it or tell anyone else how bad it truly was.

The promise to himself broke a few days after the end of fifth grade. That night his father told him to pack some clothes and an overnight bag. He complied, and that morning he was woken up early. He wondered why his parents were dressed nicely, but kept it to himself.

His heart raced the entire car ride. His parents bickered over trivial things, which he tried to tune out, but couldn't.

“Did you bring the money?” his father asked.

“I thought _you_ brought the money,” his mother snapped back.

“I did. Because I saw you leave it on the table. Honestly, how useless are you?”

“Did you really just ask me if I brought the damn money to shit on me? I can _not_ wait to get rid of you and him.”

A lead weight on his glass chest. That's what that sentence felt like.

“Mom? What do you mean?” he asked.

“What?”

“Get...get rid of me and dad? What do you mean ‘get rid’ of us?”

“Uhg, shut up,” she groaned.

Panic swelled in his heart. “You can't wait?! You want to get rid of me and dad?!”

“Shut _up_ already.”

“What – where are we going?!”

“ _Oh my god_ – tell your damn son to shut his mouth.”

His father didn't respond. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

“Mom! Are you getting rid of me?!” he asked again, fear creeping into his voice.

“Shut up!”

“MOM!!”

He kept yelling and kicking in his seat. Neither parent responded to anything. He just kept kicking and yelling until the car pulled into a parking lot near a long line of people and kids. Even as his father pried him out of the car and he made a scene and kept screaming. He felt eyes on him and he felt sick to his stomach and he didn't care.

He was carried up to the front of the line, where some other adults were. His father set him down, but he clamped onto his leg. Another adult pried him off.

That adult held him in her arms as his parents turned their heel and walked away. With one final burst of energy, Keith screamed “ _PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!!_ ”

~

Once Lance was packed and settled in, he left the cabin and ran to the pier on the lake. Pidge and Hunk were already there, skipping stones. The second Lance’s foot hit the first wooden plank, the two turned around and ran towards him. They crashed in the middle for a group hug, but lost their balance and toppled over. The three burst out laughing.

“Man, you guys are as weird as ever,” Pidge said between laughs.

“Of course we are!” Lance said. “It blocks out the crazy!”

Hunk laughed. “So what’s up, guys? How was your winter?”

Pidge groaned. “Uhg, I have so many stories to tell you guys. School, Matt, tech stuff, family; you name it, there’s a story to it.”

Lance chuckled. “I’m the opposite. Nothing much happened this year, guys.”

Hunk lightly punched Lance’s arm. “Glad to hear that, man. You need a recovery from last year.”

Lance winced lightly, hoping that the two didn't notice. He laughed it off. “Yeah, I think I deserved it. What about you, man? How’s Hawaii?”

He blushed. “I-uh...I—”

“Oh my god!” Pidge exclaimed. “You got a girlfriend!”

Hunk’s blush deepened as his eyes became saucers. “Not so loud!”

Pidge and Lance cackled loudly. “He got ‘em! Hunk got the girl!!”

The girl they were referring to was a camper from two years ago. Shay has only stayed a month, but Hunk was in love with her from day one. They were practically inseparable until she left. Even after that, Hunk got her Skype and they called each other every other day, even during the winter.

It wasn't until the next summer that she told him that she lived in Hawaii. They were both from the same island and neither knew. Hunk gushed about her the whole summer to Lance and Pidge, and they kept telling him to confess to her when he saw her again.

Hunk evidently did just that.

“Please! Guys – aah!” Hunk covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. Lance punched him in the arm.

“Ah, sorry man! We’re just happy for you!”

“Yeah!” Pidge added. “You guy were just so cute!”

Hunk emerged from his hands, face flushed red. The three of them laughed heartily.

“So anyway,” Hunk said. “What will you guys put in for suggestion weeks?”

Pidge smirked. “Computer week. We just sit inside all week and do stuff on the computers.”

Both boys gave her a weird look.

“But we’re at camp. Outdoors camp.” Lance said.

“If you couldn't tell by the past three summers, Lance, I am not an outdoorsy person.”

“True.”

“I’m gonna put in for a baking week!” Hunk exclaimed. “My ren taught me so many of their mom’s recipies and I memorized them, and I gotta teach everyone now!”

Lance and Pidge’s faces lit up. Hunk’s ren has the best homemade food whenever they visited.

Pidge turned to Lance. “So, Lance, what’s your suggestion gonna be?”

“Swimming!” he said excitedly. “Just a whole week of swimming. Last year’s swim week was lame, and just swimming on weekends is lame too.”

Hunk snorted. “Are you a fish or somethin’?”

Lance shrugged. “I prefer the term merman.”

Pidge sighed. “Two weeks of floaties around my arms. Fantastic.” She shook her head. “On the other hand, are we all in the same cabin again?”

“Cabin six?”

“Six!”

Hunk and Lance high-fived. They looked to Pidge, who looked deflated.

“So _this_ is the age where the sexes are separated,” she mumbled. “Fresh fuck, boys.”

“Noo!!” Hunk cried. “Pidge no! We’ve been in the same cabin for three summers we can’t be in separate cabins!”

Lance pulled in the girl for a hug, holding onto her as if she were a lifeline. “No. No, no no no, no. I’ll get Allura to fix this.”

“Lance, it’s okay —”

“Pidge, Allura thinks your are the most badass kid ever. She will move you to our cabin.”

“Seriously, it's fine —”

“Pidge,” Hunk interrupted. “We have been cabin buds for three years. You being a girl isn't going to stop our streak. You’re the only bunk mate I’ll ever have.”

Pidge pried herself from Lance and hugged Hunk. “Aw Hunk, you’re the best hunk mate ever!!”

“Pidge!”

“Hunk!”

Lance laughed at his friends. “You guys are weird.”

“Of course we are,” Hunk said with a wink. “It blocks out the crazy.”

Lance was loving summer already.

**Author's Note:**

> :^)
> 
> Yep that's all I got.
> 
> Tell me how I'm doing! Thanks! <3


End file.
